Association for the Study of Obesity

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The Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) was founded in 1967 and according to its website is the "UK's foremost charitable organisation dedicated to the understanding and treatment of obesity."

The ASO has three key objectives:

  • To promote professional awareness of obesity and its impact on health.
  • To educate and disseminate recent research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of obesity
  • To prioritise obesity and provide opinion leadership in the UK.

The Association is affiliated to the European and International Associations for the Study of Obesity and organised the lst International Congress on Obesity, held in London in 1974 and the 2nd European Congress on Obesity, held in Oxford in 1989. The Association was also the founding body of the highly respected International Journal of Obesity. [1]

The ASO exists to provide training to health professionals and others involved in the prevention and treatment of obesity and to offer an ongoing forum for the sharing of scientific expertise and clinical practice through the provision of high quality scientific and educational meetings. The ASO also runs ORIC, the Obesity Resource and Information Centre, as a point of contact for others interested in obesity, especially the media, who are seeking independent and authoritative information on obesity.


Finances

The ASO is both a charity (number 1100648), and a company limited by guarantee (number 04796449). The annual accounts for 2006 show total income of £115,373 of which £70,040 was from sponsorship. The main sponsors named in the accounts are: Roche, Abbot Sanofi-Aventis, Unilever. [2]

Sponsors

Their sponsors in 2007 were [3]


People

ASO is governed by an elected unpaid Board of Trustees, who normally meet three times a year. It employs two staff, the Director of Operations and Fundraising and the Events Coordinator and Administrator. Trustees report annually to the ASO membership. [4]

Trustees

  • Chair [5] - Susan Jebb PhD, SRD Head of Nutrition and Health at the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research centre (HNR) in Cambridge. Head of the Nutrition Communication group at HNR and works extensively with government, industry, health professionals, the media and consumer groups to translate nutrition science into policy and practice. Member of the Nutrition Society, the British Dietetic Association and The American Institute of Nutrition. Was chair of expert group which in March 2007 produced Department of Health commissioned report on obesity issues. [6]
  • Deputy Chair - Dr Jason Halford He has been involved in the behavioural assessment of potential anti-obesity drugs in pre-clinical models and humans ever since, including recent work on Rimonabant. More recently, he has focused on the effects of branding and food promotion on children’s food preferences and diet. Currently a reader in appetite and obesity at the University of Liverpool and Director of the Human Ingestive Behaviour laboratory.
  • Professor John Wilding DM FRCP. Former Chair of the UK Association for the Study of Obesity and a UK representative on the International Association for the Study of Obesity committee.
  • Professor Carolyn Summerbell PhD, SRD Professor of Human Nutrition and Assistant Dean (Research) within the School of Health and Social Care at Teesside University, Middlesbrough. Principal Investigator for the NICE Public Health Collaborating Centre on Obesity based at Teesside. Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Obesity and is a member of the WHO Expert Panel on Childhood Obesity. Was member of expert group which in March 2007 produced Department of Health commissioned report on obesity issues. [7]
  • Dr John MacKean Part time GP. Also works on an independent basis conducting health screening for BUPA and medico-legal work.
  • Professor Marion Hetherington Professor of Biopsychology at Glasgow Caledonian University. She leads a small, research active group in the Department of Psychology exploring appetite regulation across the lifespan. Her interest in obesity developed from a BBSRC-funded project investigating genetic and behavioural markers of the pre-obese phenotype in children. Member of the Nutrition Society, the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB). Member of the editorial boards of the British Journal of Nutrition and the British Journal of Health Psychology.

Contact Details

  • Address : ASO, 20 Brook Meadow Close, Woodford Green,Essex IG8 9NR
  • Tel: 020 8503 2042
  • Website:www.aso.org.uk


Affiliations

Obesity All Party Parliamentary Group, provides support to the Group

Notes

  1. http://www.aso.org.uk/portal.aspx?mlmenuid=1969&TargetPortal=35&ApplicationID=33 ASO website accessed 12 December 2007
  2. Association for the Study of Obesity ASO Annual accounts 2006 June 2006, accessed 12 December 2007
  3. http://www.aso.org.uk/portal.aspx?mlmenuid=1975&TargetPortal=35&ApplicationID=33 ASO website accessed 12 December 2007
  4. ASO, About Us, accessed 26 October 2010.
  5. ASO Our Trustees, accessed 26 October 2010
  6. MRD Human Research Nutrition, Cambridge; Department of Health The healthy living social marketing initiative: a review of the evidence 12 March 2007, accessed 12 December
  7. MRD Human Research Nutrition, Cambridge; Department of Health The healthy living social marketing initiative: a review of the evidence 12 March 2007, accessed 12 December